After a lifetime of working and providing for their families, many senior citizens in our community find themselves with health issues on fixed incomes struggling with hunger. Senior citizens have a number of unique medical and mobility challenges that put them at a greater risk of hunger and are forced to make tough choices between nutritious foods and medication needs.
More than 10 percent of all individuals served by your Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank are seniors. The Foodbank has demonstrated its commitment to serving even more seniors struggling with hunger through implementation of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
CSFP works to improve the health of low-income seniors by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA foods. CSFP boxes provides seniors with enough food to create 25 meals and are given to qualifying seniors each month.
In 2017, more than 5,400 CSFP boxes were distributed to four counties. By the end of 2018, the Foodbank, with the help of its hunger-relief partners, will distribute 1,000 boxes each month to our eight-county service area, enhancing access to meals to help seniors stay healthy and strong.
To learn more about senior hunger in the United States, visit http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/senior-hunger-facts.html.